Village schools— Basora reaffirms safety

Yellow Springs School Superintent Mario Basora this week sought to reassure school parents regarding their children’s safety in the wake of increasing publicity surrounding the recent leave of Yellow Springs High School Principal Tim Krier and a police investigation of student sexual misconduct.

“I want you to know that we are aware of and understand the concern and frustration parents and students have about hearing and reading rumors in the media and not having the whole story from the schools,” Basora wrote on Monday, April 2.

The YSHS situation was featured last week in Dayton Daily News and Dayton television reports that focused on restrictions on Krier around his leave and an announcement from Yellow Springs police that an investigation is ongoing into student sexual misconduct.
“The district has taken every precaution to ensure that your child(ren) is/are safe at school,” Basora wrote, stating that, “to the best of our knowledge,” the alleged student misconduct had taken place off school grounds.

In his letter, Basora wrote that while there is an ongoing investigation into a student’s behavior, “I am bound to protect student privacy and not disclose any information that either gives student names directly or can be reasonably associated with a student by community members.”

Principal Krier went on medical leave on March 15. In announcing the leave to the school community that same day, Basora stated that “Dr. Krier and his wife have been working through a personal family issue that is demanding their full attention,” and that he could be out until the end of the school year. Assistant Principal Jack Hatert is serving as interim principal.

In a separate letter, also dated March 15, from Basora to Krier obtained by the News in a public records request, Basora stated that Krier was restricted from being on school grounds or at school events during his leave. Basora did not respond to News questions regarding whether such restrictions are consistent with medical leave.

In his letter this week, Basora wrote that “There is no current or pending investigation of Dr. Krier related to his engaging in any form of sexual misconduct or any mistreatment of students or staff.”

In response to a public records request, the Yellow Springs police last Friday, March 30, released incident reports regarding the two instances when police were called to the school regarding sexual misconduct during this school year. In the first instance, in September, a female student alleged that a male student acted in a sexually inappropriate way when they were out of school. The outcome of the case is not known because Greene County juvenile court records are not released to the public, according to Court Administrator Amy Lewis this week.

In the second incident, police were called to the school when a counselor reported that a female student talked about a past incident involving “an alleged sexual offense between several students,” according to the incident report. An investigation into the complaint is ongoing.